I'm in the middle of rethinking if I really need a table saw.
First of all, I already have a tablesaw (a10" delta something). I used it every day till I started working with my Festool TS55. Since then this thing is only sitting in the corner, taking up valuable space and gets maybe used 3 times a month for a couple of minutes. I'm working in this field for over 20 years now and know that a good big sliding tablesaw is great to work with, unfortunately my 500sqft shop doesn't allow me to go that route. Therefore I have to be inovative--hense my festool purchases.

So my idea now was that I could get myself a good powerful bandsaw for resawing rough stock. Sheet goods are of course easy to do with the TS55, so no issues there.

What do you guys think? Would that move make sense?

Here is a short clip of my shop so you know what I'm talking about:

Eco,

I have a my TS55, a Trion, a Bosch 4410L miter saw, a Fein Multimaster and a bunch of Japanese pull saws. They handle pretty much anything I've encountered. Every now and then I think that it would be nice to have a small table saw to deal with some issue. And then I overcome it and forget about the table saw.

IMO, a band saw would be MUCH more useful to a Festoolian than a table saw. At least to me.

Regards,

Dan.

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I dont know, I would love to not have a table saw but some times they are just indespensable.
I just cut all the parts for 21 drawers in 11 different sizes and put the dado for the 1/4" bottoms. I used the Kapex for the crosscuts and the tablesaw for ripping and dadoes. The stock was 11 5/8" x 60" prefinished baltic birch. It took me about 2 hrs. It would have taken all day with the TS55 and router. It would have gone alot faster but I had to tape all the crosscuts because I was getting a little tearout.
I couldnt have done this on a bandsaw either.
The TS55 and 75 are awesome tools but cannot totally and efficiently replace the capabilities of a tablesaw.

Eiji

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Dan,

No offense but Eco runs his shop as a business that has to run efficiently to make money. As a hobbyist you have more of a luxury to do things differently.

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Eco--

This real point of this discussion is "what group of tools will work best for my needs...including safety and productivity...and cost least...including money spent and space taken up." In your case, space seems to be a bigger problem than money. You could probably scrape up extra dollars more easily than move your shop to a larger space.

It's plain that the particular table saw you have now is pretty much dispensable for you. It's also plain that it is a contractor saw, not a top-of-the-line model. Questions worth asking are "if I had a better table saw, would that change how often I use it? Would I be willing to 'spend the space' on it?"

I'm inclined toward not using a table saw since getting my Festool saw and rail...in fact I sold off my Delta contractor saw. Like you, I see the Festool stuff as having sheet goods breakdown covered. I don't do this for a living, though, as Eiji points out. My hope is to buy a good, large bandsaw for curves and thick stock. It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway ) that a bandsaw would add new capabilities to your shop in the kind of cuts, the shape of the stock, and the kind of material you can cut. It would bring a lot to the party.

While a bandsaw requires space for long cuts, that space tends to be long and narrow. A bandsaw on a stand can be wheeled into working position for large pieces. I've found it easier to get enough working space for a bandsaw than for a tablesaw.

Would an OF2200 router increase the speed of grooving/trenching/dadoing operations enough to be worth it? Would it make it easier to walk away from a tablesaw for grooves and tenons? I have very little flight time with an OF2200, but I can tell you it would be a joy to use.

How would adding a large bandsaw and a monster router affect what you could do? How fast you could do it?

If a more powerful router would make it easier to say bye-bye to the low-end saw, the good news is that that router would be an incremental improvement over the router you're using now. You wouldn't have to buy bandsaw and the router at the same time. You would know that any time you wanted to increase your productivity, you could bring in the super router, and not at that point be thinking "I shoulda kept the contractor saw".

Ned

Eiji,

I agree with you about running a business. For example, the computers I use professionally are not exactly what most people would use. (My dev servers have 16 cores and 32Gb of memory. Not big, but usable for development. )

Regarding Eco's needs, I responded the way I did because Eco already has a table saw and said he does not use it. And he has a small shop. That doesn't point to getting a new table saw.

As Ned pointed out, the key issue is what's the right set of tools for Eco. Another option would be to get new shop space and get a better table saw. OTOH, with today's economy that might not be a good idea. That's a tough decision.

One thing I noticed in Eco's video was the curved shelves. Neither the TS55 nor a table saw would be useful for making those cuts. Maybe Eco wants to focus on more curved or freeform stuff where a bandsaw would be useful.

Regards,

Dan.

p.s. I use my Festools for remodeling. I wouldn't call that a hobby. Maybe a rare form of masochism, but certainly not a hobby.

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Thanks for your input guys!

To clarify things:
I'm cutting all my sheet goods with my TS55 and guiderails. I found it too painful to do that on my little tablesaw. Not even to mention that the risk of scratching up the sheets on the table saw is greater then with the festool! at the end that also means less sanding!
For drawerboxes, I use my OF1400 to cut the dados while I have the full sheet on my table, no big deal and again no risk of scratching the pieces. So first I trimm the sheet, router the dado, cut the strip, router the dado, cut the strip. Super easy and goes quite fast.

As for the rounded shelves you see in the video:
I ussualy try to avoid designs like this one.... It just takes too much time. But to answer your question, I cut it with the jig saw and cleaned them up with the beltsander, no biggy

Shop space:
I'm in desperate need of a bigger space.... But even if I could effort the insain lease rates around here I wouldn't do it. I'm not supporting greedy landlords. Right now the going rate for a 1600sqft shop is $3000+ taxes and utilities a month. It's just not duable for a two person operation.
A solution could be to join up with a couple of other woodworkers and open a "Co-op". in that case we could buy big machinery, share buying power for our materials and are able to rent more space then we actualy need

Eco,

On the mainland lease rates seem to be close to a 1$ a sqf that usually includes NNN, are you sure you got your facts straight? I would look into it.

When I started out it was in a two car garage- no space to move = frustration, I was using the same tools that you have, everything took forever! then I moved into a 2000 sqf shop and tried to co-op with a friend, that didn't work either, not much to explain on this one, similar story to yours, when you lent that guy your tool.
I have had enough! My newest shop is 1500 sqf and I plan to move up to a full size slider, replaceing my current 4' and I will hold on to my 12" cabinet saw.
So I will use festool mainly for site, and the shop is production machines, it really depends on how much money you want to make really.
I had alot of potential work last year that I over priced because I couldn't handle it, but now I'm hoping to double the amount of work that goes through the shop, with new european machines they reduce fatigue and are very safe so I can trust an employee to use them.
Eco, like you I'm from europe (Italy) Not sure your feeling, but I believe the north american machines are unsafe pieces of junk!

Mirko

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I'm jumping in late here, but for my non-production shop I don't have a table saw, and I do have a bandsaw. Couldn't live without the bandsaw, but can live without the table saw. The bandsaw can be easily moved into a corner when I don't use it, but it's indispensable for resawing, cutting curves, etc. For my needs the bandsaw significantly outweighs the table saw.

That being said, if I were in production mode, I think I'd want a table saw...

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I don't have as many Festools as Fred. Or Marcou's, or Brese's, or Lie-Nielsen's, or Lee Valley's, or Blue Spruce's, or Harold and Saxon's, or...

Well, I don't want to say too much about NA machines But there is a reason why I spend a lot of money for Festool, Fein, Hettich and VW lately
Anyhow, I had toured about 10 potential shop spaces within the last 5 months... They ranged from $8 to $27 a sqft!!!!! Of course the cheaper buildings are leaky, overall run down or in a bad neighborhood.... Maybe we should move to Vancouver he he he

As for working more efficient with bigger machinery and more space, I know I know.... as mentioned above I'm a woodworker for over 20 years and know how nice it can be! But not everyone has $200000 in their business account

BTW, that's the saw I'm trying to kick out:

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